STCC business transfer program opens doorway to opportunity for immigrant from Portugal

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Four years ago, Helder Serrazina left his home in Portugal and moved to Western Massachusetts with a dream of getting an education and pursuing his goal of owning a chain of hotels.

Serrazina, of Monson, started at Springfield Technical Community College, which served as the perfect gateway to higher education. He’s now enrolled at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and seeking a degree from Isenberg School of Management.

Serrazina recently looked back at his two years at STCC, where he earned an associate degree in business administration through the business transfer program in May 2020. STCC afforded him opportunities he could only dream about when he was growing up in Setúbal, Portugal. He said STCC is much more affordable than colleges or universities in his home country.

“I began working when I was 16,” said Serrazina, now 32. “I started studying at some point, but I couldn’t afford it, and had to drop out.”

He immigrated to the United States four years ago and settled in Western Massachusetts, where his husband has roots. His first two years after his arrival were frantic, as he had to complete immigration paperwork and navigate legal requirements, among other hurdles. But he kept his focus on his goal: Getting an education. Serrazina’s husband recommended STCC as a great place to start on a pathway to a degree.

“Here, the opportunity to get an education presented itself to me in a way that Portugal never did,” he said.

At STCC, he found the community college to be not only affordable, but chock full of opportunities. The business transfer degree is offered online, which allowed for the flexibility he needed. He applied for and won the Jean and Jim Genasci Honorary Scholarship, which is awarded to LGBT students who demonstrate how they actively serve as a leader or role model and promote the goals of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. That and other scholarships helped keep the costs down. He graduated from STCC with a manageable student loan to pay off.

At a scholarship ceremony in 2019, a year before he graduated, Serrazina was asked to be the featured speaker. He reflected on the concept of education and its transformative power. He called education “truly the only way forward.”

Serrazina offers thoughtful and reflective answers when asked about what brought him to STCC and how a degree can transform his life.

“When I resumed my higher studies and went back to college in 2018 at STCC, I thought this is really about learning all the skills I needed to make sure that I will become the best entrepreneur and businessman possible,” Serrazina said. “It’s really about the power of inner choice and really being in tune with what you want to do for your life in the long term. It is really about determination and resolve. I think anyone can do it. Anyone can get into Harvard starting from STCC. It’s really about putting together a master plan and sticking to it.”

Serrazina said he was grateful to the professors and faculty at STCC who supported him and encouraged him not to give up, including professors Gail Olmsted, Rhoda Belemjian and Ann Gervais.

I’m grateful to STCC for giving me an affordable and quality education. My life certainly would be different if I didn’t find STCC. Helder Serrazina, STCC graduate of the Business Transfer Program

“All three of them were instrumental for my growth in business, and I would not be here without them,” Serrazina said. “I truly recommend their classes because they are wonderful women, with their own values and skills, and they will do the world for anybody. There were times when I doubted myself, and they never let me stay behind. They kept pulling me back up.”

Gervais recommends the STCC Business Transfer program for anyone looking for an affordable pathway to bachelor’s degree at institutions like Isenberg.

“The STCC Business Transfer program combines a strong foundation of business core courses with robust liberal arts offerings, to ready a student like Helder for Isenberg,” Gervais said. “Our program is designed within the parameters of the Mass Transfer A2B (associate to bachelor’s) requirements to ensure that driven students like Helder are well prepared for the rigor of the UMass program, all Massachusetts public universities, as well as other AACSB accredited programs in the area.”

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is the oldest and largest accreditor of business schools in the United States.

As he has since he first started at STCC in 2018, Serrazina continues to keep a busy schedule. In addition to studying for a degree at Isenberg, he and his husband are raising two boys, ages 13 and 8. He works at a Chicopee hotel full time, doing a job he’s passionate about and getting the hands-on experience he needs when he opens his own hotel which he hopes will happen within the next year.

“I’m grateful to STCC for giving me an affordable and quality education,” he said. “My life certainly would be different if I didn’t find STCC.”

Interested in applying to STCC? Visit stcc.edu/apply or call Admissions at (413) 755-3333.

About Springfield Technical Community College

STCC, the Commonwealth's only technical community college, continues the pioneering legacy of the Springfield Armory with comprehensive and technical education in manufacturing, STEM, healthcare, business, social services, and the liberal arts. STCC's highly regarded workforce, certificate, degree, and transfer programs are the most affordable in Springfield and provide unequalled opportunity for the vitality of Western Massachusetts. Founded in 1967, the college – a designated Hispanic Serving Institution – seeks to close achievement gaps among students who traditionally face societal barriers. STCC supports students as they transform their lives through intellectual, cultural, and economic engagement while becoming thoughtful, committed and socially responsible graduates.     

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jim Danko, (413) 755-4812, jdanko@stcc.edu

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